CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	[1]
Cash pledged as collateral		$ 2,223,009	$ 1,584,686
Agency debentures, pledged assets		0	0
Credit risk transfer securities, pledged assets		150,479	184,160
Commercial real estate debt investments, pledged assets		4,401,725	2,911,828
Commercial real estate debt and preferred equity, held for investment, pledged assets	[2]	$ 523,787	$ 578,820
Common Stock, par value		$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common Stock, shares authorized		1,956,937,500	1,956,937,500
Common Stock, shares issued		924,853,133	935,929,561
Common Stock, shares outstanding		924,853,133	935,929,561
Senior Secured mortgages of Consolidated VIE, carrying value		$ 211,900	$ 262,700
Cash of Consolidated VIE	[3]	2,416,136	1,769,258
Commercial real estate debt and preferred equity, held for investment, allowance for losses		0	0
Securitized debt of a consolidated VIE		3,677,079	2,366,878
FREMF Trust
Cash of Consolidated VIE		50,700	48,500
Non-Agency mortgage-backed securities [Member]
Mortgage-backed securities, pledged assets		$ 1,057,282	$ 744,783
7.875% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Preferred Stock, shares authorized		7,412,500	7,412,500
Preferred Stock, shares issued		7,412,500	7,412,500
Preferred Stock, shares outstanding		7,412,500	7,412,500
7.625% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Preferred Stock, shares authorized		12,650,000	12,650,000
Preferred Stock, shares issued		12,000,000	12,000,000
Preferred Stock, shares outstanding		12,000,000	12,000,000
7.50% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Preferred Stock, shares authorized		18,400,000	18,400,000
Preferred Stock, shares issued		18,400,000	18,400,000
Preferred Stock, shares outstanding		18,400,000	18,400,000
Agency Mortgage Backed Securities
Mortgage-backed securities, pledged assets		$ 60,742,440	$ 60,678,548

[1] Derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2015.

[2] Includes senior securitized commercial mortgage loans of a consolidated VIE with a carrying value of $211.9 million and $262.7 million carried at amortized cost, net of an allowance for losses of $0, at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively.

[3] Includes cash of consolidated VIEs of $50.7 million and $48.5 million at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively.